Four Orders To Go
by catfoxy
Summary: When you work at a coffee shop, you serve many customers day after day. You don't know the person who picks up that coffee, but after a while, you might notice some customers' habits. And you might even notice when those habits suddenly change…


_Author's Notes:_

_Before I wrote the "Cog in the Machine" story, I had something in mind that did not involve an airport. Something with a darker edge. But then 'Mike' tapped me on the shoulder and you know the rest. Anyway, since I really liked writing from an outside character's POV, I decided to give this another try – and I came up with a different setting, a different character, and hence…a new story._

_This time, imagine a coffee shop near the IMF headquarters. Agents are normal people, too, so I assume that before work, many of them may have developed a habit of getting themselves a cup of coffee in the morning, before they go into the office for another mission briefing or whatever the day brings for them. _

_Which brings me to the POV of a coffee shop employee. _

_And if you like it, please leave some feedback below. :o)_

_P.S. This has a dark edge at the end…please be warned._

_-o-_

_Summary:_

_When you work at a coffee shop, you serve many customers day after day. You don't know the person who picks up that coffee, but after a while, you might notice some customers' habits. And you might even notice when those habits suddenly change…_

**Four Orders to Go**

To Jenny, this job was just a stepping stone.

At least, it was at first.

In fact, after her first month, she wanted to quit. But now, eight months later she was still working at the little coffee shop at the corner of 6th and Jefferson, and she had come to actually like the work.

You met all kinds of different people every day, and you saw them pick up the most exotic combinations of coffee or tea. You learned to send an encouraging shout of 'good luck' after any unfortunate soul that you saw hurrying out the door if they were late for a business meeting, and you grinned knowingly whenever you saw a group of schoolboys spend hours lounging in those corner chairs, hammering out a class report due that afternoon.

It was a nice mix of people that frequented this little coffee shop just outside the heart of downtown, but it was still busy enough that in the morning, you had to be really on your feet to keep up with the orders.

Some of her customers were tourists, others were people who had lived in this area of the city all their lives. But a large part of their customers also consisted of business folks who preferred this little shop to the heavy-priced ones further downtown. This shop still had something down-to-earth to it, a homey feeling that had people coming back here again and again.

It made for regular customers. Some came every day, some only every other week, and some even came just once a year – but even those customers came back in a regular pattern.

Which was why, even if you didn't know any of these people you served the coffee, you were bound to pick up some of their preferences after a while.

The old lady from down the street, for example, liked her tea with just a spoon-tip of honey, and a pinch of cinnamon. After the third time she ordered this combination, she no longer even had to ask – whenever she stopped by now, she instantly got her tea just the way she liked it.

In contrast to that, the three students in the corner, who usually stopped by just before noon, preferred the "student special", as they once jokingly called it. If they came in, you could simply grab a large pot of fresh, black coffee and put it on their table – they took care of everything else, and you didn't have to look after them once. They were students. They were cool. And, for students, they actually paid nicely.

And then there were the people from the nearby offices. Creatures of habit. Which meant, after a while you didn't only know what beverage they preferred, you also began to notice that they showed up at exactly the same time every time. In the case of some regular customers, that meant you only had to spare a glance at the clock on the wall, and you knew which beverage would have to be ready within the next couple of minutes. The regular customers loved that service. It was one of the reasons they came here.

As if on cue, Jenny could just now see the door opening again, as a lady in an elegant but practical-looking suit stepped into the coffee shop.

8.30 am.

Yep, she was right on time.

The lady stopped by here once a week, always on Tuesdays. And she liked her cappuccino with just a touch of pepper. Jenny had no idea what that tasted like, and she wasn't brave enough to find out herself, but the lady seemed to like it just that way.

The lady was a nice tipper, too. And the grateful smile on the lady's face as she tasted the cup of hot brew was always an extra bonus that told Jenny her customer was once again happy with the service. With a friendly 'til next time', Jenny bid the lady farewell, as she watched her leave to whatever workplace she was headed for.

Up next were some tourists who were in desperate need of a hot beverage after they had missed the boat that was to take them across the harbour on a private sightseeing trip. When Jenny handed them their hot cups of tea, she also gave them directions to another boat hirer, who might be able to help them out. The tourists left with grateful smiles on their faces.

Her next regular customer stopped by approximately ten minutes later. It was the guy who looked like a very successful financial adviser. At least he always had a pen in his jacket and a small briefcase in his hand. The guy was actually pretty good-looking, always in a suit, but never anything too fancy. He was still relatively new to this coffee shop, but before long he had developed a regular pattern that clocked him in at just after 8:45 am.

Interestingly, just like the lady with the cappuccino, he only stopped by on Tuesdays. But, in contrast to the lady, this man was a straight-up 'coffee with milk, please' kind of guy. Uncomplicated, nice and with a relaxed attitude that made Jenny wonder why not all accountants were like this man. As she handed him his coffee, she wished him a nice day and hoped that if she ever needed help with her tax forms, she could find the nerve to give him a call.

At approximately ten minutes after 9am, she spotted her next regular customer. With him, it was always a bit different. Not the coffee. He liked that black as the night, always, with no sugar or milk. But his time pattern was a bit harder to nail down. Sometimes he showed up a bit sooner, sometimes a bit later. But never before 9:05 or later than 9:20. At first, Jenny had thought it was because he sometimes missed a bus or something like that, but one day she happened to spot him across the street in his car, where he was simply waiting. And watching. The coffee shop, the street, and the people who walked in and out.

She didn't know why this man made it a point to remain just slightly unpredictable, even if it was about something as simple as getting coffee, but since he always paid well, and his smile was practically an extra-payment on its own, she was gladly willing to let him have his unpredictability, as long as he kept flashing her one of those 'have a nice day' smiles on his way out. It was a sight to behold. Too bad it only happened on Tuesdays.

Then, less than a minute before 9:30, she saw another regular customer hurrying in through the door, his laptop under his arm and trying very hard not to bump into anyone as he quickly steered for the counter. He was clearly late work.

As he always was on Tuesdays.

And since Jenny knew he was usually too out of breath to order his black tea with a spoonful of honey and a blob of milk, thank you, she just smiled at him, reached to her left behind the counter, where she had already prepared the beverage, and she handed it over to him with a grin.

The relieved sigh and grateful expression on the guy's face was always fun to see. As was the appreciative tip he always left, as he grabbed the cup with his only free hand, and hurried out the door again with an long, loud, and grateful 'than you'.

Yeah, it never got dull in this coffee shop.

Her regular customers made sure of that.

But one week later, all that suddenly changed.

-o-

She watched her latest customers, three school kids, leave as they hurried to catch up with their school bus. It was Tuesday, and just before 8:30. They would have to hurry if they wanted to stay out of the principal's office.

Jenny smiled at the thought, remembering how often she had been called to the principal for being late.

Which reminded her: Any minute now, her regular customers would start coming in. The first one would be the nice lady with the cappuccino. And since Jenny now knew what pepper on cappuccino tasted like, she had an even greater respect for that woman – anyone who could drink that and actually like it, had to be tough as nails.

When the clock hit 8:30, Jenny got an empty cup ready, setting it aside, ready to be filled with the hot liquid.

At 8:35, and two other customers later, Jenny realized that the empty cup was still standing beside her on her counter.

'She must be running late.' Jenny figured.

When the lady still hadn't showed up ten minutes later, Jenny decided to put the empty cup away for now – maybe the lady had gotten ill, or she had a day off. Everyone deserved a break from the routine once in a while. So Jenny simply got ready for her next customer.

In fact, Jenny had promised herself that today she would ask the nice-looking accountant what company he was working for, so she could perhaps ask him for his business card – for professional purposes of course. It was always good to befriend someone who knew how to dig into statistics and numbers.

After another ten minutes, however, Jenny began to wonder if the clock on her wall might be broken. It was now shortly before 9am. And still no sign of the accountant. That was strange. Really strange.

Several other customers then kept her busy for a while, so the next time she got a chance to throw a glance at the wall – she realized it was already 9:21 am.

Unpredictable or not, this had never happened before.

Where was the other good-looking man with the smile?

She leaned across the side of the counter a little, to catch a glimpse at the street through one of the large windows, but she couldn't spot his car there, either. He obviously wasn't coming today.

Now she was really starting to wonder. Something strange seemed to be happening. It was Tuesday, wasn't it? She actually checked the calendar hanging on the side of the cash register. Yep. It was Tuesday alright.

But when, at two minutes _past_ 9:30am, the cute British guy hadn't showed up, either, Jenny could no longer contain the strange feeling in her gut that something was not normal today. She couldn't explain it, but somehow she knew that there was something unusual about these four people's sudden absence.

It was a feeling that would keep her out of balance for the entire rest of her shift.

In fact, she was still thinking about it five hours later, even as she began picking up the newspapers strewn on several desks, putting the pages neatly back together, as was her habit before the change of shifts - she always liked to clean the shop up a little.

But her thoughts were so far away today, that she didn't even look at the newspaper pages as she folded them. Until something made her focus on an article at the very bottom of the newspaper she had just picked up.

It was an article about some international crisis.

The headline read:

**"International Crisis Averted. Peace Talks to Resume"**

She didn't know why that headline caught her eyes, but something made her actually read a few lines of the article:

"…_was more than tense for a while. According to both negotiating parties, however, the group of US ambassadors was freed from the rebels' hands soon after the outbreak of the hostilities. Unconfirmed reports about any American losses during the rescue mission have since been denied by the Department of Defence, which stated that "every one of our agents is already safely back home, and back at their desks, doing business as usual. And since no Americans were injured or killed, the U.S. is willing to resume the peace talks."_

Jenny didn't know where that crisis had taken place, or what countries had been involved in it, aside from the U.S. But she was glad that an escalation had obviously been averted. And, if one was to believe the government, fortunately none of the people who had gone on the rescue mission had been lost.

Well, provided that the government wasn't lying, as they sometimes did. She wouldn't put it past those government agencies to leave some of their own agents behind just to save some important peace treaty.

But it wasn't like she would ever find out the truth about this. Since she didn't know any of those super special agents personally, she would never actually know if those brave people, who had been ordered to go save lives, really made it back home. Therefore, all she could do was get back to her own, closer-to-home mysteries:

Like the mystery why four of her regular customers hadn't shown up today.

But in the grand scheme of things, her mystery probably didn't even compare to the enormity of what went on out there in the world.

So she simply folded the paper in half, and – putting it back on the coffee table for the next customer to read – she went back to the counter, where she grabbed her bag and got ready to go home.

It wasn't her place to wonder about dead agents and government conspiracies. She left that to other people.

She was an employee at a coffee shop.

And her shift was over for today.

THE END


End file.
